1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to surgical knives and more particularly to disposable scalpels. Most particularly the invention relates to a disposable scalpel which may be retracted into the handle for safe disposal.
2. Related Art
Surgical scalpels are special knives, the blades of which are manufactured to precise standards of high quality materials. For various reasons, it has become common to use a scalpel blade only once. Therefore there are several combination handle/replaceable blade scalpels disclosed in the art. Additionally there are now available completely disposable scalpels having inexpensive plastic handles secured to the scalpel blade.
With the advent of the AIDS virus, there has now arisen much concern about transmission of disease by contact with contaminated blood. Sharp instruments, such as scalpels, which routinely come into contact with body fluids, are particularly worrisome. For this reason scalpels have been provided with removable guards to prevent contact with the blade when not in use. See for example U.S. Pat. 4,735,202 which discloses a scalpel in which the glade guard is provided in the form of a sleeve which is slidably mounted over the scalpel and may be locked into position over the blade when not in use. The blade guard requires two hands to position. Additionally U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,507 discloses such a scalpel whose guard may be easily moved into or out of position by the surgeon during actual surgery to prevent accidental cutting or jabbing when passing the instrument back and forth during surgery.
Most retractable blade guards have the disadvantage of being open at one end to allow passage of the blade. Such opening can allow any body fluids left on the blade to seep out and come into contact with either operating room personnel or clean up personnel.
After any "disposable" scalpel or blade is used there is still the problem of disposing of it. The scalpels or blades must be placed in special "sharps" containers to prevent janitorial or other clean up personnel from coming into contact with the contaminated instruments. Even if the blade is covered by a guard or sheath, there is a chance that the guard might become retracted or removed. Additionally, there is always the temptation to reuse such instruments, especially in poorer areas where disposal of a "perfectly good scalpel" might appear as a waste.
Broadly it is an object of the present invention to provide a scalpel with a retractable blade such that the blade can be positioned for use and retracted into the handle after use.
It is another object of the invention to provide a retractable blade scalpel that when fully retracted is permanently locked in the retractable position to prevent accidental reopening or reuse.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a closed container after retraction of the blade for safe disposal of the scalpel.